We were in trouble anyway. No JO, maybe no Shaq..............and on the road, not a good mix.Posted by hedleylamarr

No Jermaine and Shaq would be a bummer. We all anticipated that the 2 O'neals would miss quit a few games this season, but it really hurts when it actually happens. I hope both recover during the next few days.

Miami's start isn't a surprise for me, they're a new team, with one ego maniac and genuinely good player alongside him.

If they get it together this season it'll be in a month or a months time. The group still needs to adjust to one anothers play. Teams where established superstars come togehter rarely seem to win championships.

Still not sure if Bostons win in 2008 was a case of right place right time for the team. As you had that mix of older guys wanting a championship. But the Houston 'big three' experiments ended in failure, and those guys involved were not exactly rookies.

Miami's start isn't a surprise for me, they're a new team, with one ego maniac and genuinely good player alongside him. If they get it together this season it'll be in a month or a months time. The group still needs to adjust to one anothers play. Teams where established superstars come togehter rarely seem to win championships. Still not sure if Bostons win in 2008 was a case of right place right time for the team. As you had that mix of older guys wanting a championship. But the Houston 'big three' experiments ended in failure, and those guys involved were not exactly rookies.Posted by RUWorthy

And what about the time the LAkers brought in GP and Karl MAlone? NOT successful either.

Miami's start isn't a surprise for me, they're a new team, with one ego maniac and genuinely good player alongside him. If they get it together this season it'll be in a month or a months time. The group still needs to adjust to one anothers play. Teams where established superstars come togehter rarely seem to win championships. Still not sure if Bostons win in 2008 was a case of right place right time for the team. As you had that mix of older guys wanting a championship. But the Houston 'big three' experiments ended in failure, and those guys involved were not exactly rookies.Posted by RUWorthy

I 100% believe that Bosh is an overrated pile of dookie and Wade is an injury just waiting to happen but I would risk Wade. I dont think its ever going to come together for them because when the games really begin to matter come playoff time almost each team in the east has a better bench than them. If benches can outscore theirs and go on little runs the Heat will lose in 5.

Not a good team, will need a new HC, and need better bench players. I LOVE how they think Mike Miller and Eddie House are just going to carry that bench. Eddie House and Mike Miller.... Im more afraid of Vince Carter lol

The Heat look very similar to the Cavs. Bron did nothing in the last few minutes and OT. They don't have any bigs and let Millsap go for 46!!! The Heat shot over 45 FTs...FORTY FIVE AND LOST!! LOL! Wow, talk about trying to give them the game.

No way they beat the C's in a 7 game series...now or the end of the season.

The Heat look very similar to the Cavs. Bron did nothing in the last few minutes and OT. They don't have any bigs and let Millsap go for 46!!! The Heat shot over 45 FTs...FORTY FIVE AND LOST!! LOL! Wow, talk about trying to give them the game. No way they beat the C's in a 7 game series...now or the end of the season.Posted by BiasLewis

So, let me get this straight.The game was IN Miami?It was a close game?The Home Team shot 47 FT's while the visitor's shot 21?

Sounds like a typical NBA game to me. 36 - 47? If they went 40 - 47 they win! Look for more of the same tomorrow. Phantom calls late in the game, touch fouls that weren't fouls for 3 quarters, 3 point plays on such calls. They will be in the bonus (if the game is close) with about 7 mins to go, we won't be until the last 2 mins!!

In Response to Re: Utah comes from 22 down to win in OT at Miami... : I 100% believe that Bosh is an overrated pile of dookie and Wade is an injury just waiting to happen but I would risk Wade. I dont think its ever going to come together for them because when the games really begin to matter come playoff time almost each team in the east has a better bench than them. If benches can outscore theirs and go on little runs the Heat will lose in 5. Not a good team, will need a new HC, and need better bench players. I LOVE how they think Mike Miller and Eddie House are just going to carry that bench. Eddie House and Mike Miller.... Im more afraid of Vince Carter lolPosted by Pancakespwn

That was funny...and although I won't go so far as calling him a "pile of dookie", I will agree with you on Bosh being overrated. I can't figure out why they call him one of "the 3 kings" when he's, AT BEST, a complimentary player. He's not much of a defender or rebounder.

Not only is Wade an injury waiting to happen, but nobody ever figured out what was wrong with LeBron's elbow last year. As far as the Heat's bench...that's another overrated aspect. Miller won't be back until January and then he has to get into game shape.

I won't be at all surprised if the C's or Magic win the East. All of the ESPN hype is coming back to haunt the Heat.

ESPN is all about the hype. It doesn't matter if they're right or wrong, as long as the fans continue to watch ESPN and SportsCenter that's mission accomplished for them. Posted by P34

Know what's funny?We haven't heard the lakers trolls bragging about Hollinger's new power ratings. Know why? Because the lakers are #2, after MIA. Apparently, strength of schedule and win differential are part of it. So, although they came out before last night's game, beating the TWolves by 5 won't help them next week either.

Know what else is funny? The yahoos out here on ESPN LA say Hollinger "hates" the lakers and all his polls are anti-lakers.To copy you - HA HA HA!!

In Response to Re: Utah comes from 22 down to win in OT at Miami... : And what about the time the LAkers brought in GP and Karl MAlone? NOT successful either.Posted by Schleprechaun

Thank you sooooooo much for bringing that up :P

Indeed, the juvenile feud between Shaq and Bryant was reaching it's climax by that point. If they had been on the same page during the season and playoffs we may have beaten Detroit, very big if though as Detroit played extremely well in that series.

Still feel weird seeing Malone in a Lakers uniform though. Just didn't seem right after all those seasons with Utah.

The Heat look very similar to the Cavs. Bron did nothing in the last few minutes and OT. They don't have any bigs and let Millsap go for 46!!! The Heat shot over 45 FTs...FORTY FIVE AND LOST!! LOL! Wow, talk about trying to give them the game. No way they beat the C's in a 7 game series...now or the end of the season.Posted by BiasLewis

A big difference between the look of the Cavs and Heat is that Cleveland never had a guy like Dwane Wade playing alongside Lebron.

However it does look that the Heat may struggle to win as many regular season games as the Cavs did last year.

In Response to Re: Utah comes from 22 down to win in OT at Miami... : I 100% believe that Bosh is an overrated pile of dookie and Wade is an injury just waiting to happen but I would risk Wade. I dont think its ever going to come together for them because when the games really begin to matter come playoff time almost each team in the east has a better bench than them. If benches can outscore theirs and go on little runs the Heat will lose in 5. Not a good team, will need a new HC, and need better bench players. I LOVE how they think Mike Miller and Eddie House are just going to carry that bench. Eddie House and Mike Miller.... Im more afraid of Vince Carter lolPosted by Pancakespwn

simply put...this team wont be playing their best ball for a while now but if the big 3 stay healthy and learn to play together...this team is going to be a dominant force come january that no one will want to play...not even the justice leaguePosted by Jimmy42Jack0

With all due respect, you are the Indiansbacker of 2010-11. Your team has done nothing yet but you have them on a victory parade already.

In Response to Re: Utah comes from 22 down to win in OT at Miami... : Way to early for this kind of stuff. Certainly at full health (O'Neals) and strength (DWest) this Celtics team will beat Miami in a 7 gamer NOW. But just wait till they get Mike Miller back and we'll see if Wade does what he has to do to make them a winner. It is on him. In my opinion (and Bill Simmons article mirrored my thoughts), Wade has to let LeBron dominate the ball and run the show. Meanwhile while Bron does that and gets his 30-35 and 10 dimes, Wade has to set the tone on defense (shut DOWN or seriously limit the best guard on each team he plays, be it Rondo or Kobe), do all the little team captain KG in 08 things to help them win, slash and almost score at will or get to the line whenever Bron is doubled or just when he has a good look at jumpers AND LeBron has to let Wade be the closer. I don't know how if Bron is basically the PG, but I trust Wade with last second shots way more than LeBron, even if LeBron is clearly going to be a better player and scorer for 46 mins. The Cavs were a 60+ win team with LeBron doing his thing with lesser 2nd and 3rd best players. His supporting cast was a lot like Miami's.... even with Bosh... only minus Wade. Jamison/Varajao is like Bosh/Haslem. Mo is like Mike Miller. If Miller spreads the floor and Wade accepts being Pippen, the do-everything side-kick. while Bron dishes kinda like the tall PG Magic was and scores kinda like MJ/Kobe (minus the final second heroics that Wade gets), then they can and will be unbeatable. I just hope for our sake they figure that out after we win a title this year. In order for us to win Rondo probably has to be the best player in the series and our big 3 ALL have to play better than Bosh (not just KG, but it is obv his job to shut him down) b/c we know James and Wade are superior to Ray and Paul. If Wade shuts down Rondo to the same degree or better that Kobe did while getting like a 22-8-8 each game, while Bron just goes off for 40 on PP/Quis and KG lets Bosh score 16-18 and grab just as many boards as him, then we lose. Near triple double Rondo, with Wade frustrated, PP and Ray both over 20 and KG grabbing 2-3 more points and 4-5 more boards than Bosh = Celtics win, regardless of what Bron does. So can Rondo dominate the Heat?Posted by rameakap

good post...i agree

and im not so sure rondo has to dominate per se...but if he plays well all around, it will be very tough to beat the celtics...gotta work on his jumper though

In Response to Re: Utah comes from 22 down to win in OT at Miami... : With all due respect, you are the Indiansbacker of 2010-11. Your team has done nothing yet but you have them on a victory parade already.Posted by FlobusMcNugget

In Response to Re: Utah comes from 22 down to win in OT at Miami... : With all due respect, you are the Indiansbacker of 2010-11. Your team has done nothing yet but you have them on a victory parade already.Posted by FlobusMcNugget

I really don't understand the line of thinking. We all hope our team will be much improved as the season goes along, but it is far from a given. Team Chemistry should improve, but injuries could play a major role in how any team develops.

I also don't understand the argument, "The Bulls won championships without a star point guard and center. We can too." I appreciate the true fandom, but the rational used is absolutely ridiculous.